


Let Your Scars Fade Away

by ThatOneYoshiYouSee



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:34:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28019325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneYoshiYouSee/pseuds/ThatOneYoshiYouSee
Summary: Maki Harukawa, the usually cold and calm assassin, finds out a dark secret about the usually composed maid, Kirumi Toujou. Now, once she found this secret, she makes a pact to help, as they are more alike than they realize.
Relationships: Harukawa Maki/Tojo Kirumi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Let Your Scars Fade Away

It was a very peaceful day for the maid. Water soaked her entire body from the spring, letting all of her body’s tensions fade away. Her hair started dipping into the water, soaking the ends like a paintbrush. Ivory hair reflected in the sauna as she stared at her reflection, ivory eyes meeting herself in the water. And through that water were her bare arms. Arms that were covered, littered by nothing but a spiderweb, of scars. 

That view wasn't pleasant for Toujou. Not at all. She didn’t want anyone to see it. Chabashira may have gotten glimpses of the tops of her hands as Toujou pampered her, but to the maid’s surprise, she just gave her a glance of concern before going on with her day. Her eyes motioned towards her hands, the tops of her hands with smaller nicks and gashes. Hidden in her outfit was a knife. She’d use it on herself if she was taking a break. But now she couldn’t. Not when anyone could walk in at any time. 

And that’s what happened.

The ripples in the water started to move not away from Toujou with her movements, no, it was someone getting in. Her eyes drifted upwards to now look at the brunette who just got in. Harukawa. This girl was definitely more covered in scars than she was, from being an assassin, it was no shock. However, those weren’t her own doing. Unlike Toujou. 

Harukawa paid no mind to the other person as she started to sink her entire body into the water. Significantly longer hair flowed down into the clear liquid, turning it a familiar shade of brunette. Occasionally, red eyes would take a glimpse at pale bare skin, and all of the scars that littered it. Harukawa looked concerned. As a kid, she knew full well about mental stress and trauma back at the orphanage. Those glimpses got longer as Toujou would occasionally reveal more of her arms. An absolute spiderweb. Just like the pattern on her dress that the assassin would occasionally notice. Harukawa then realized. Her eyes drifted to Toujou’s uniform, neatly hung up in a locker, which was ajar. She knew Toujou was a neat freak, so she wasn’t surprised at the sight of that, but then there was one thing that stood out to her. 

It was gleaming. A dagger, resting at the bottom of the locker, next to the maid’s signature grey heels. Parts of it were stained with red. It appeared it was worn from constant use, like her own weapons from assassin training. Crimson orbs got wider as she saw blood around the area. Subtle stains, as the maid hadn’t gotten around to cleaning it. 

She looked back at the maid, and they actually made eye contact. Toujou’s eyes had a look never really seen on someone like her. A look of vulnerability. She was genuinely shaking to the point where ripples moved towards Harukawa. It definitely was something she didn’t want anyone to know about. 

Toujou caught Harukawa’s gaze. She flinched and started to get out. Harukawa was the last person she wanted to see her scars. To see how truly imperfect she was. She always wanted to make a good impression on everyone, and for someone like Harukawa, she had to try even harder because the assassin wasn’t easy to impress. She did her best to cover up her arms, not caring about the rest of her skin being revealed. The assassin got a good look at all of her scars, even with Toujou attempting to cover herself up. 

It was an awful sight. Toujou had self harm issues, she was well aware of that from Chabashira under Toujou’s nose. The aikido master had told her to maybe look into that as she really did notice the scars on Toujou’s wrists, even if her eyes were closed most of the time she got the massage. Harukawa got a very detailed look before the maid wrapped her body in a towel and proceeded to go into the changing room. Some of the scars were curved, while others were straight sharp lines. Some of them looked old, similarly to Harukawa’s scars on herself, from years ago, while others looked…

...Fresh?

That explains a lot. Harukawa kept her eyes on the changing room. Waiting for a while as she too got out to change after resting for a few minutes. Her eyes watched Toujou as she moved, the girl paid no mind to Harukawa at all. Due to the very little noise around, her sniffles and tears could be heard, even with the sound of the water flowing around her. Toujou then looked at Harukawa. Her eyes showed a solemness that was never seen on the face of by far the most mature student in the class. Harukawa opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Toujou stopped in her tracks, and a few tears started to fall. 

Harukawa was shocked, to say the least. That calm demeanor that was usually on the maid’s face was breaking, breaking like a porcelain vase that was accidentally knocked over in a house. The assassin, who had made this a habit to comfort kids younger than her back at the orphanage, opened her arms up for Toujou for a hug. Sure, the assassin was cold, cold as ice, but something made her really want to try and help. It was like the friend she had back at the orphanage. The girl who sacrificed herself saving someone’s life, and probably was dying with satisfaction, instead of taking other’s lives away and living a life of murder at someone’s command. 

This wasn’t what Toujou expected. She stared at Harukawa’s open arms before finally breaking down and sobbing. She bent down and cried. Harukawa was caught off guard. But she cradled the maid in her arms, despite the height difference. She was going to be Toujou’s crying shoulder. Harukawa also broke her demeanor, whispering things to try and comfort her. They were silent for the most part, the silence and actions meant a lot more to Toujou than just words. They were making eye contact, a feeling of mutual understanding after a while. Toujou then broke the hug, and put her gloves back on. Her face hardened up again, into the stern motherly demeanor she had originally. 

And that’s when Harukawa realized.

The gloves were a simple facade. It was all a lie. All of it was hiding her true self. Behind a brave, vigilant, obedient, almost perfect human being was a very cowardly child. Like a child who was too scared of everyone, and wants to lock themselves to be alone in their sorrow. Harukawa was completely immobilized as she heard the creaking of footsteps stepping out of the wooden floor. Toujou had begun to leave. 

The assassin ran after her. She stood in front of Toujou, and looked her in the eyes. She stared into her eyes, red meeting ivory. Seeing a lot of painful memories, being abandoned by her parents for her older sisters, Toujou hid a lot behind closed doors. They say the eyes are the window to the soul. That was completely true. A whole array of painful memories washed into Harukawa’s head, just blurring by, just from a stare into her eyes. 

“What do you want?” Toujou’s stern voice sliced through her thoughts, she was now glaring at Harukawa. It was a very sudden flip from what she had just seen, but she knew why. Toujou cared a lot about her honor, and seeing her cry like an infant would ruin her. 

“What do you th-” then she realized being rude in this situation would actually not be the best for someone who just cried her soul out. “Erm. Well, I wanted to help you.”

Toujou started to get a little more irritated. “Listen. I don’t want anyone to know of this. And definitely not you. It will ruin my honor as a maid. I would appreciate it if you left me alone for a while.” 

She pushed Harukawa to the side and stormed out. Was Harukawa pushing it? Maybe. She just watched Toujou leave. Then she looked at the locker. She had forgotten the knife. She picked it up. Toujou had left something surprisingly important. Pocketing it, she took it with her. 

The next morning, Toujou wasn’t present at breakfast. Harukawa looked at the rest of her class, who were waiting for breakfast, confused by the sudden absence of their mother. Iruma fiddled with an invention, Ouma was complaining, to Harukawa’s annoyance, and everyone else were having conversations. Harukawa knew why she was gone. It was from the day prior. She was probably hidden in her room. Away from everyone else. Ashamed for showing scars she inflicted on herself. 

Harukawa took matters into her own hands. She went into the kitchen, taking Chabashira with her because she could vent, knowing full well about the scars.

“H-Harukawa!” Chabashira was a bit caught off guard by the fact she was taken away from Yumeno, who yawned and wasn’t really shocked that Chabashira suddenly got dragged into the kitchen. 

The sounds of sizzling bacon and pancake batter smells wafted around the room. Chabashira was helping Harukawa make everyone a decent meal. They had a few discussions. 

“Wait, what?” Chabashira’s face turned into nervous shock. She almost dropped the pancake batter that was in her hands.

“Yeah. Yesterday I found out.” Chabashira saw the gleam of the blade that Harukawa tucked under her shirt. She ignored it again, sliding over the stove. The sizzling of pancake batter being poured on the pan could be heard.

“Maybe you should go check on her.” Chabashira suggested. “I’ll leave bringing her meal to you.” Chabashira smiled as she handed Harukawa a plate, full of food. “Obviously it isn’t as good as her food, but hopefully she’ll like it.”

Harukawa had stared at the custom meal Chabashira had prepared. She was shocked at the pure effort put into it. Neat decked pancakes with eggs and vegetarian bacon on the side. She took the plate and walked off, thanking Chabashira who continued to cook. 

The sound of footsteps into the dorms were vaguely heard. She saw Hoshi sitting nearby on the stairs. He just smiled at her as she knocked on Toujou’s door.

It creaked open. Harukawa could see faint ivory hair and an eye glowing in the dark. Toujou stared at her and hissed. “What is it? I apologize, but I am una-” her eyes darted to the food. “Is that, for me?” Her scarred hand reached for the plate, in a manner that was oddly childish for the maid. 

Harukawa gave her the plate. “Yeah here. I thought you’d be hungry.” A streak of red went from ear to ear.

The sounds of eating rapidly could be heard. All of these were foreign to the maid usually, she was always so poised up and polite. However, she looked and sounded like an animal. “Please come in, Harukawa. I would like to talk.”

Harukawa felt a pit drop in her stomach. It was about yesterday, wasn’t it? She reluctantly walked in. A light flickered on. Toujou was a neat freak, so it wasn’t shocking that her room was perfectly clean, even her bed which was shown to have been used mere seconds ago. But looking up at Toujou herself was another world. A figure covered in just a baggy gray T-shirt and leggings. This time she didn’t try to hide it. She didn’t hide her scars as she continued to eat. After eating she set the plate down on the nightstand. Her hair moved out of her eyes, revealing that she had been crying. 

Harukawa sat down next to her. She let Toujou lean on her shoulder. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t regard your feelings. I’m sorry and I mean it.” 

Toujou was silent aside from small sniffles. She took Harukawa’s comfort and reached for her hand, but then retracted it, reluctant to touch the other girl in the room. Then she started to whisper. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

It sounded... childlike. A childlike begging from someone as mature as Toujou, which caught Harukawa off guard. She looked at Toujou’s hand moving back to its original position and reached for it, gently gripping her hand for a sign. 

A sign telling Toujou that she was there. 

“Of course I won’t. I’ll respect your wishes.” Harukawa said calmly. She got the implications that Toujou was so invested in her work to never give herself time, and it was odd for her to actually think about herself. It was taboo even. “If you want, you can tell me what’s going on. A vent if you want. It isn’t wrong to think about yourself at all.” 

Trembling, Toujou started to talk. About her family, about being forced into a standard that she lost all sense of herself. She lost her personality for her work. It even had dire consequences. Her scars were definitely a sight. After telling Harukawa everything, and really being more human than what she usually showed, she broke off and looked away, her hair covering her eye again. “I apologize for putting you through that.” 

“There’s no need to apologize. Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with talking about yourself.” Harukawa said. “Besides, I care about you. You’re not just the ‘maid’ around here. You’re human. I don’t want you to be taken for granted.” she was clearly red in the face. “Toujou, no, Kirumi, you mean a lot to me. I want the best for you.”

Toujou stared into her eyes.”I mean a lot to you? What do you mean?” She had only been known as a servant all her life, and that’s how she got her praise and attention. Nobody liked her for who she was originally, and she’d erase her personality because of it. Harukawa saying that was probably a lie, probably a false scenario to make her have a sliver of hope, but that pessimistic thought faded quickly when Toujou’s hand felt something clamp a bit tighter against it. Harukawa was closer to her face now, their noses almost touching, making the maid flustered. And then she felt something touch her lips. Another pair. Harukawa went in for a kiss. Toujou was caught off guard but she returned the kiss, and they held it for a few seconds before Harukawa pulled away, a small smile on her face. “That’s what I mean.” 

Toujou was speechless. Harukawa gripped her hand and smiled. “Yeah. I love you. You’re amazing, and I don’t want you to be in pain. I don’t want you to just be working all the time. Why don’t we go out today?”

And that started the road to Toujou’s recovery. Eventually she’d give the knife to Harukawa up completely, and found healthy ways to work out her stress from her past. 

Together, they allowed their scars to fade away.

**Author's Note:**

> I love angsty fics. Hope you enjoyed and again, I hope I portrayed everything correctly. Let me know how to improve!


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